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THE INSIDER: The utility of revolutionary truths

Then again, in a world of fake news dominated by Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma, can we believe anything emanating from the domain '…@spintelligent.com'?

19 May 2017 - 05:35
THE INSIDER

Eskom CE Brian Molefe. Picture: MARTIN RHODES

A claim that former, current, resigned, retrenched, retired, fired (take your pick) Eskom CEO Brian Molefe and board chairman Ben Ngubane put pressure on a cabinet minister to help the Guptas take over a Glencore coal mine was dismissed as "preposterous" by Ngubane, who opened the African Utility conference in Cape Town earlier in the week.

According to a media release issued by African Utility Week, Ngubane rubbished former mineral resources minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi’s claims during a media briefing after his address. Then again, in a world of fake news dominated by Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma, can we believe anything emanating from the domain "…@spintelligent.com"?

Sean’s nicer among the herbs

Cardboard cutouts of White House press secretary Sean Spicer hiding in bushes are popping up all over North America, inspired by a Canadian academic.

Spicer has become a favourite target of NBC’s Saturday Night Live satirical show, in which he is played by actress Melissa McCarthy as a gum-chewing shouter who berates and threatens journalists for asking probing questions. McCarthy took her Spicer impersonation to the streets of New York last Friday, rolling through midtown traffic on a motorised lectern.

The mockery went global after a Washington Post article described Spicer huddling near bushes in the White House grounds as reporters waited to ask questions about the firing of former FBI director James Comey.

The incident prompted academic Lisa Kadonaga to come up with "Garden Spicer", a blown-up photo of Spicer’s head that she stuck in bushes near her home and then uploaded to Dropbox. Her post on Facebook has been shared more than 110,000 times and Dropbox reportedly struggled with the volume of traffic as people rushed to download the image.